Though their resources were severely depleted thanks to the binding on their cell, Sumi and Shippo thought they may have found a new source of hope.

Shippo's youkai abilities were practically useless while in holding here, but Sumi wasn't a youkai—not exactly. He had begun sitting across from each other on the cold floor with their fingertips touching.

"Sumi, we need to let the youkai flow."

She nodded—Shippo was sure she understood the basic concept—and closed her eyes.

Shippo smiled and did the same. He tried to open up a door within himself. Using what Inuyasha had told him about his inner youkai, Shippo searched for his core. Inuyasha was a good example because the rise of his energy was so much more effective on his hanyou body. The youkai was obvious and the feeling dominated from a common place within himself. He said it felt wrapped around his gut—just as his human side felt when it rose, although it was much less volatile to him when that side emerged. It was like a small constant burn, which Inuyasha told him was constant.

Shippo pinched his eyelids tighter as he tried to feel that burn. He'd never felt it before other than when changing into his fox form, but he knew it was there if he could only find it. He could faintly hear Sumi murmuring something in front of him, but he was sure it was in her language. Was she like a witch in that she could cast with her voice and hands? Or was it more like a meditation such as he himself was attempting?

Shaking his head, the red haired fox focused on his inner self. Youkai where are you? He breathed out forcefully in frustration. He didn't know where to search for it.

The hand on his fingertips was now gone and tugging on his haori sleeve. He opened his eyes to see the girl staring at him. Her eyebrows pulled together and she flicked her gaze to the side as he'd learned she did while trying to recall something she'd recently learned. She blinked several times and looked back to meet his eyes.

"Shippo." She still seemed unsure about her words. "You no get youkai. Yes?"

He nodded slowly, ducking his head as if it would help him understand.

She nodded with a slight scowl over her features. "You no get youkai. You youkai." She settled in with a sigh to see if she was comprehended.

"Yes…I'm a youkai. What do you mean?" The teen was indeed lost.

She let out the slight growl she always had when frustrated with her communication abilities and took her hands away from him. She pointed her index finger and touched it its mate on the opposite finger. "What this please?"

The boy nodded and provided her with the word "finger."

She nodded and continued to point. "Youkai no finger. Youkai arm. Yes?"

He tried not to, but he felt his face going to his "are you nuts" expression. He opened his mouth to answer, stopped himself, then scooted back a bit to better see her motions. "Uh…no. What?"

She grimaced, but repeated her pointing. "Youkai no finger. Youkai no arm. Youkai you. Shippo Youkai you, no finger."

Then the light hit him in the face. "O-oh! The youkai is all of me, not a piece of me."

"Piece?" Her finger remained on her other didget. Shippo felt himself laugh and push her hand away from her other.

"Thank you." She seemed to settle and nod after a moment. Then she opened her hands in front of her, offering to try again. He raised his hands back up and touched his fingertips to hers. She closed her eyes and began to repeat the same phrase again as far as Shippo could make out. He decided to ask.

"So, your words? Spell or youkai."

Without opening her eyes she nodded "yes," then continued her repetition. He decided it was not best to ask for clarification at this time. Instead, he leaned back and closed his eyes as well, concentrating.

Not a piece of me like it is with Inuyasha. I am the youkai. Shippo felt himself begin to grow irritated again quickly, but calmed himself and relaxed. He was well informed enough to know that he would gain better control of himself with age, but boy was it a bad time to be young.

He felt himself scoff and his anxiety lessened.

Then the jolt.

He snapped his eyes open in time to see the young woman across from him do the same. They both bypassed each other's expressions for the moment and focused on the sensation they had felt. It was a snap, a jolt which had passed between their two touching middle fingers on his left hand, her right. Shippo felt himself grow giddy as the relieved laughter threatened to bubble up from inside him. He maintained his composure—Inuyasha had once told him he sounded like a girl when he giggled like that—and sighed again.

As his posture relaxed he noticed Sumi do the same, and another sharp little jolt peaked out from under his claw and into her flesh. Or, perhaps it had been the other way around. Shippo barely cared. As the boy let out a small laughter, forgetting his pose, the spark glowed physically and spiked.

"Ah-ha! We've got it! Plenty of power to shift one of us." He didn't dare to pull back his hands, so afraid of forgetting how to conjure such a joint success.

Sumi's eye were wide, but joyous, and Shippo nudged her with their touching fingers that they should try again.

Again and again the two practiced in the dark cell, sending small flicks of light to illuminate their surroundings. By the time the guard came around again, they had managed to produce some fox magic.

The panther eyed the two curiously, wondering how they could smile in their situation, but found nothing suspicious. He quickly left the area to head back to where he stayed when not checking up on the prisoners.

Shippo and Sumi could barely contain the smug smile he wanted to throw at the guard. Sumi, on the other hand, had moved on with great sobriety to her expression. She insisted that they hurry—no more playing around. At least that is what Shippo thought she meant. As Kagome often said: buckle down.

He could physically taste her aura now. It wrapped with his, tangling into something that would have been frightening if the binds were not holding back much of their true potential. Shippo had never done this before, and he didn't know how powerful it could get. They would have to be careful when they tried it without limits.

He shook his head. He needed to think about what he and Sumi were building together. How they were gathering strength.

That's when he had the vision of her again.

She appeared nude, as she always did. Well nourished, clean, and nude. Shippo felt himself gulp as he struggled to hold back against Sumi's pressing force. He needed to holdup his end. Pushing back, he tried to shake away the image, but with little success. Her skin was soft, and her tail intact. It flowed down her backside, wrapping itself around her right leg. He shivered at the sight of her own red and black fur on her skin, and knew he'd lost it. Her aura pushed against his with nothing to break the force. He violently rocked backwards, landing on his back on the floor.

He began to grumble, but instead heard himself growl. The young youkai blinked and held a thin black paw up in front of his face. He knew this sensation. His beast was out. Flipping himself over, he looked up to Sumi. Wait, up?

She had grown huge! No, he quickly realized it was he who had shrunk. His form was his, for sure, but he supposed that burst from Sumi left him more to her beast size. The red and black haired woman in front of him smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Good, yes?"

He nodded back slowly, feeling his snout nearly in her lap. So this is what she'd planned. Alright, Shippo would take it. He turned his head to the bars at the front of the cell and after eyeballing them for a moment, he figured he could probably fit through them at this size.

A small yiff escaped his muzzle and he trotted over to the bars. No hurt in trying.